Oakland backs down on crime war figures

OAKLAND

Updated 11:08 pm, Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

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Police Chief Howard Jordan(L) and Mayor Jean Quan are seen arriving at a press conference held on International Blvd. in Oakland, CA. Oakland police, Mayor Jean Quan and City Administrator held a news conference to discuss the ongoing violence gripping Oakland, Monday January 14th, 2013. less

Police Chief Howard Jordan(L) and Mayor Jean Quan are seen arriving at a press conference held on International Blvd. in Oakland, CA. Oakland police, Mayor Jean Quan and City Administrator held a news ... more

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Oakland backs down on crime war figures

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Oakland police retreated Tuesday from Chief Howard Jordan's statement that almost all of the violent crime in the city in recent months is linked to a war between two groups that exploded after the killing of a 16-year-old girl last summer.

"These are two groups that are involved in about 90 percent of the violence in Oakland," Jordan said at a press conference Monday, three days after four people were shot to death in the city in a matter of hours.

Asked what time period he was referring to, Jordan said, "I would say probably within the past six or eight months." He added, "When I talk about violence, we're talking about murders, robberies and shootings."

The 16-year-old girl, Taiteanna Turner, was slain Aug. 8 in East Oakland. Police records show that Oakland saw 57 killings and 1,784 robberies from Aug. 13 to the end of the year. If 90 percent of those cases were tied to the two groups, they would account for roughly 51 slayings and 1,600 robberies.

Questioned about the statement Tuesday, Jordan's chief of staff, Sgt. Chris Bolton, said, "It's an extremely high percentage, not 90."

'A huge percentage'

He said 58 percent of homicides that occurred from January to September of last year happened in East Oakland. Of those, he said, as many as 65 percent were associated with street groups and gangs.

"It's obvious that group and gang violence drives the core of our homicide rate," Bolton said, "and it's deserving of attention regardless of what the exact number is."

A spokesman for Mayor Jean Quan, Sean Maher, said, "The exact percentage isn't as important as the fact that these two groups are responsible for a huge percentage of the violence that's plaguing the city. The exact figure isn't as important as what we're going to do to stop them."

This isn't the first time an Oakland leader has had to backtrack after making a sweeping statement about crime in the city. Last summer, Quan admitted she had, for several months, erroneously claimed that 90 percent of the city's homicides and shootings occurred in 100 of the city's 6,560 blocks.

Weisberg said it was plausible that a drastic, short-term spike in killings could be explained by a specific social situation such as a gang dispute.

"But 90 percent seems clearly hyperbolic," Weisberg said. "It's unfortunate he used those hyperbolic numbers, because it may serve to mask a legitimate explanation of a very, very drastic bunching of murders."

Sources said the two East Oakland groups at the center of the violence are known as the "Case Gang" and the "Money Team." Members of the two groups were among the targets of a gang intervention program that authorities and community leaders launched in the fall called Operation Ceasefire.